Although Lehrman's nickname in the industry was "Pathe" because of his association with Pathe Studios, stuntman Harvey Parry gave him the nickname "Suicide Lehrman" because, according to Parry, Lehrman wasn't concerned about safety and would come up with very dangerous stunts that were almost guaranteed to get stuntmen hurt.
It has been widely rumored that Lehrman was engaged to actress Virginia Rappe at the time of her death, and in fact he was buried next to her at Hollywood Memorial Park (now Hollywood Forever). They dated, but she was wildly promiscuous and, although she lived with him (confirmed by 1920 census records), they were never engaged. He was apparently obsessed with her and testified at her trial to events that took place at Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle's fateful party, even though he was never there. He arranged to be buried next to Rappe, but nonetheless married another woman less than a year later.